“This is a source of great concern for us, but apparently not for the US,” he added.

The Pentagon said on Monday that it had test launched a conventionally configured, ground-launched cruise missile with a range of more than 500 Kilometers.

It was the first such test since Trump officially terminated the Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF) with Russia earlier this month. The treaty, signed by then-US President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, banned land-based missiles with a range of between 500 to 5,500 kilometers.

Washington accused Moscow of violating the treaty, an accusation the Kremlin has denied.

During the council meeting, the acting US envoy to the UN Jonathan Cohen described the missile test as a “prudent response” to the “aggressive strategies “pursued by Russia and China.

He accused both Beijing and Moscow of causing a “deteriorating security environment” in the world.

“The Russian Federation and China would still like a world where the United States exercises self-restraint while they continue their arms buildups unabated and unabashed,” said Cohen.

“US flight tests to develop a ground-launched, conventional capability are neither provocative nor destabilizing. We will not stand idle,” he added.

Cohen also went on to say that Washington was interested in “serious arms control” that includes China and “goes beyond treaties focused on limited types of nuclear weapons or missile ranges.”

China’s Ambassador at the UN Zhang Jun, however, said in response that Beijing “has no interest” in being part of any arms control treaty with Washington and Moscow.

China has already warned the US against deploying new missile systems to various Asian countries, including Japan and South Korea.